Charge car for feeding material to be sintered



Nov. 21, 1933. J. E. GREENAWALT CHARGE CAR FOR FEEDING MATERIAL TO BESINTERED Filed April 27. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l HTTQPA/EK Nov. 21, 1933.1,935,876

J. E. GREENAWALT CHARGE CAR FOR FEEDING MATERIAL TO BE SINTERED FiledApril 27, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JOHN 6. 6/65 ENA wan- QTTOFA EK Nov. 21,1933. VJ GREENAWALT 1,935,876

CHARGE CAR FOR FEEDING MATERIAL TO BE SINTERED Filed April 27, 1931 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES CHARGE CAR FORFEEDING MATERIAL TO BE SINTERED John E. Greenawalt, New York, N. Y.

Application April 27, 1931. Serial No. 583,149

10 Claims.

My invention has relation to improvements in traveling hoppers, orcharge cars, especially adapted for feeding material into the holder, orpan, of a sintering apparatus for the purpose of sintering the same.This invention is more particularly an improvement over that describedin the patent granted to Thomas M. Alexovits on May 19, 1931, Patent No.1,806,438.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide means fordischarging the material from the hopper in a regulated stream ofnonuniform density. That is, there will be a series of zones across thewidth of the stream in which there will be little or no material. Theadvan- -tage of having these thin spots, or zones, in the materialstream is to improve the condition of the charge, produced by the flowof material into the pan, so as to cause the charge to sinter morerapidly and more perfectly. The effect of such non-uniform flow ofmaterial on the sintering charge is considered in detail in my processapplication filed of even date herewith, and now Patent No. 1,888,458.This application is concerned only with the means of obtaining sucheffect.

The manner of accomplishing the above object, as well as realizing otheradvantages inherent in the invention will be better apparent from adetailed description of the invention in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan of my improved charge car with parts broken away;Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of.

Fig. 1 with the upper part of the hoppers broken away; Fig. 3 is across-sectional detail taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is adiagrammatic section taken on the same plane as section 33 but lookingtoward the breaker roll for separating the particles of finely dividedmaterial as it is being fed into the sintering pan; Fig. 5 is afragmentary view showing in vertical section 'a modified form of theinvention wherein'the finger adjacent the breaker roll and supporttherefor is mounted for vibratory motion; Fig. 6 is an enlargedhorizontal fragmentary section taken on the plane indicated by the line6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. '7 is a cross-sectional detail taken on the line 7-7of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional detail taken on the line 8-8 ofFig. 6, and Fig. 9 is a top plan of the knife edge bearing for thechannel supporting the means for interrupting the material stream.

Referring to the drawings C represents my improved charge car comprisinga truck frame F, the side members 1, 1 of which are connected by aseries of cross-channels 2, 2 etc. The frame F carries a hopper H forthe finely divided material m that is to be sintered, and a hopper H forthe coarser material m that is to serve as a bed on which the material mis disposed. The frame F is carried on wheels W, W affixed to journals3, 3' mounted in journal boxes 4, 4' secured to the frame F in the usualmanner. The car C is driven by a motor M mounted on frame platform 5through the reducing gear set 6 connected between motor shaft '7 andrear journal 3.

The mechanism for feeding the material m, m from hopper H and H issimilar to that employed in the charge car described in the patentgranted to Thomas M. Alexovits, above mentioned and comprises a feed'roll 8 mounted below the open bottom of hopper H on shaft 9 and a feedroll 10 mounted below the open bottom of hopper H on shaft 11. Hoppers Hand H also have discharge orifices 12 and 13, the flow of materialthrough which is controlled by gates 14 and 15 respectively. Theoperation of these gates is similar to that of the constructiondescribed in the patent aforesaid, and is not illustrated or describedin detail. on each side of hopper H extending downwardly from the end oforifice 12 is a side plate 16 to prevent the flow of material m fromspreading laterally after passing through the orifice. The plate 16 isconnected (as shown in Fig. 3) to the side member 1 and to acrosschannel 17 which extends cross-wise beneath feed roll 8 and issupported at each end by an angle and plate construction 18 (shown inFig. 3). A breaker roll 19, the surface of which is covered with aplurality of bosses 20, is mounted on the shaft 21 below and slightlyfcrward of the feed roll 8 so as to receive the material m after itpasses over said feed roll, and a series of fingers 22 are secured tochannel 1'7 in uniformly spaced relation and project toward and in closeproximity to the periphery of the breaker roll 19. These fingers 22extend along the channel 1'7 for a distance equal to the width-of thebreaker roll 19 and will intercept the stream of material as it flowsfrom the breaker roll.

The feed roll 8 is caused to rotate in the direction'of the arrow byconnecting its shaft 9 with a gear 23 on journal 3 through a train ofgears mounted in gear case 24 in a manner similar to the operation ofthe feed roll in the pat- 105 ent aforesaid. The breaker roll 19 isdriven in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of feed roll8 by a motor M and reducing gear 25, the latter being connected to asprocket wheel 26 through sprocket chain 27, .110

the channel'l'lfland of course; the fingers traveling over the wheel 26and a sprocket pinion 28 mounted on the end of shaft 29leading from thereducing gear set 25.

The feed roll 10 is also rotated in the direction of the arrow by a gear30 through a train of gears mounted in gear housing 31. As in the patentabove referred to, the gates 14 and 15 are actuated through the samemechanism that actuates the feed rolls 8 and 10, said mechanism notbeing herein described in detail as it is not a part of the presentinvention. The present invention is concerned specifically with thebreaker roll 19 and fingers 22 associated with it for the purpose ofproviding void spaces in the stream of material before said material isdeposited in the sintering pan.

The manner in which the material is discharged into the sintering pan'Pmay be understood by referring to Fig. 4, which shows the material mfalling from the breaker roll 19 in a wide stream extending from end toend of said roll. The fingers 22 are shown in front of said,

roll where they intercept the material stream and produce gaps a thereinfrom one side of the stream to the other. Therefore, no material willfall into the sintering pan P where these gaps are. However, the coarserparticles of material in the stream will roll over into the gaps fromthe deposits immediately adjacent to the gaps according to the laws ofrolling friction. Thus, when the pan is charged with a bed of thedesired thickness, this bed b of material will contain regularly spacedzones .2 of coarser material and, of course, greater porosity. Thesezones 2 throughout the bed b are responsible for a quicker sinteringaction, as explained in detail in my co-pending application on Methodsof constituting a charge of material to be sinter It may be desirable,particularly in treating certain materials, to arrange the fingers 22 sothat a vibratory motion may be impartedto them. Vibrating these fingerswill not only help to prevent materlal from adhering to them, but willalso help in creating uniformity of the zones and leave the surface ofthe charge in better condition for ready ignition. In Figs. 5 to 9inclusive I show one method of arranging the fingers so that they willbe capable of vibration.

By referring to Figs. 5 and 6 it will be seen that the fingers 22' arefixed as before to a channel 17', but the channel 17' is not rigidlyfixed to the charge car frame. The channel is loose y mounted on studs32, 32 traversing the angle iron 18' depending from the car frame, andthere are coil springs 33, 33 disposed on the studs between the channel1'7'. and angle iron 18', which springs force the. channel outwardlyagainst a knife edge bearing 34 disposed between studs 32, 32 and fixedin place on the angle iron 18' by a stud 35 which traverses an opening35' in channel 27'. This supporting arrangement with a channel 1'7 isprovided at both ends of the channel and intermediate the springsupports there are a series of bearings 36 for a shaft 37.

when the shaft 29 rotates to drive the breaker roll 19 the shaft 37 willalso be driven. An eccentric weight 41 is disposed on shaft 3'? adjacentto each of the bearings 36, so that when shaft 37 is rotated the weightswill tend to cause it to oscillate and impart a vibratory motion toprojecting therefrom. In order to permit this vibratory motion, thechannel 17' is connected to the plate 16 (which plate corresponds withplate 16 in the main form) by means of a bolt 42 having clearancethrough the opening 43 in the plate. Obviously, there are other ways ofcausing the fingers 22 to vibrate, and I do not wish to restrict myselfto the specific details of construction herein shown.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a charge car, a holder for,the material to be charged, means belowsaid holder for loosening and lightly depositing the material dischargedfrom the holder, and means in close proximity to the supporting surfaceof the holder for blocking the flow of material at a plurality of pointsafter the material passes theloosening means. I

2. In a charge car, a holder for the material to be charged, means belowsaid holder for feeding the material onto a suitable support, anddeflecting means for dividing the material after it leaves the feedingmeans into a plurality of juxtaposed streams, said means beingsufllcient- 1y close to the supporting surface to keep the materialseparated until being deposited on said surface. a

3. In a charge car, a holder for the material to be charged, dischargemeans associated with the holder, and baflles-for dividing thedischarged material into a plurality of juxtaposed streams, saidbal'fles being sufficiently close to the supporting surface to keep thematerial separated until being deposited thereon.

4. In a charge car for finely divided material, a holder for thematerial to be charged, a feed roll below said holder, means forfiuffing the material after it leaves the feed roll, and baflies fordividing the fiuifed material into a plurality of juxtaposed streams,said baiiies being sufliciently close to the supporting surface to keepthe material separated until being deposited thereon. I

5. In a charge car, a holder for the charge, said holder having an openbottom, a feed roller disposed below said open bottom, an agitatoradjacent to said feed roller, and baflies for dividing the materialafter it leaves the agitator into a plurality of juxtaposed streams,said batlles being sufilcien'tly close to the supporting surface to keepthematerial separated until being deposited thereon.

6. In a charge car, a holder for the material to be charged, a feedroller below said holder adapted to assist the fiow ofmaterialtherefrom, means for confining the material stream withindefinite limits, and battles between the-confining means and below thefeed roller, saidbaflles being of a suflicient width to effectivelydivide the discharged material into a plurality of juxtaposed streams.

7.-In a charge car, a holder for the charge, said holder having an openbottom, a feed roller disposed below said open bottom, a fiufiing rolladjacent to said feed roller,. and battles below said fiufiing roll forintercepting the material stream at a plurality of points, said fiufiingroll having on its surface a plurality of formations for separatingcohering particles of material and said bailies being of sufilcientwidth and sufficiently close to the holder to effectively divide thedischarged material into spaced streams.

8. In a charge car, a holder for the material to be charged, dischargebaiiles associated with material into a plurality of juxtaposed streams,

and means for'vibrating said bailles along the longitudinal axis of theballles.

9. In a charge car for finely divided material, a holder for thematerial to be charged, a feed roll below said holder, means forflufling the material after it leaves the feed roll, and vi-' 10. In acharge car, a holder for the charge, said holder having an open bottom,a feed roller disposed below said open bottom, a fiumng roll adjacent tosaid feed roller, means below said fiufling roll for intercepting thematerial stream at a plurality of points, said flufling roll having I onits surface a plurality of formations for separating cohering particlesof material, and means for vibrating said intercepting means.

JOHN E. GREENAWALT.

